Inked and Linked
by evelinaonline
Summary: In which Ben makes a promise he doesn't wanna keep, and ends up with a tattoo.


Tattoos didn't particularly excite Ben.

The idea of having something engraved on your body forever kind of scared him and he definitely blamed Dad for that. If there was anything Ben disliked — no, hated — about his body, it was that stupid umbrella tattoo on his left arm.

Yet, to Klaus, getting tattoos seemed like a game.

It had started with the two tattoos on either one of his hands. Hello and Good Bye. They were eighteen then, and it was a little after he and Ben had left the academy. Apparently, Klaus had wanted them for a while, because he wasn't that high when he got them.

Klaus knew better than to mess with needles though — and Ben thanked God for that — so at least that stopped him from getting some cheap work done on his body. No, Klaus' tattoos were the real deal, and expensive, for that matter.

The second time Klaus got a tattoo was when they were twenty-two. The two of them had been in and out of the academy for a while, Klaus constantly running out of money and needing a place to sleep.

But ultimately, they moved out. For real this time.

According to Klaus, the situation called for a tattoo.

Ben was willing to do all sorts of crazy stuff for Klaus, but getting a permanent scar on his body was where he drew the line. He hated tattoos. End of story. He supposed not being able to get one was one perk of being dead.

So when Klaus made him promise they'd get matching tattoos, Ben had said yes.

It was a careless promise, one amongst hundreds. An act on both ends, pretending that Ben was alive and that everything was okay. Ben liked to compare it to when Klaus ordered him coffee or even waffles.

Years of the two siblings living in the streets passed, and then Sir Reginald Hargreeves died, good old Number Five came back, and the Umbrella Academy reassembled to stop the end of the world.

And after all the time travel and endless battles, Ben was alive again, and finally all of these careless promises could come true.

Klaus and Ben went out at diners, getting chocolate waffles with strawberries, pancakes with maple syrup, _hot chocolate_. Oh, how Ben had missed hot chocolate. And marshmallows. And whipped cream.

Ben felt like a child.

All he wanted to do was everything he had missed out on in the past decade — all his life even — and it felt like a dream. Being able to interact with the rest of the world, feel the sun kiss his skin, snuggle next to Klaus on the couch… It was surreal.

It was on a night like this that Klaus reminded Ben of his promise.

They had gone on a road trip that morning, not just them, the entire family, and spent the day at the beach. Ben had spent most of his time lying on the sand, reading his book. He'd loved it. He'd loved everything about it.

They finished it off with a movie night, and while everyone left for their rooms when they were done, Ben and Klaus were still half asleep on the couch, giggling about things they hadn't been allowed to as children.

"Hey, Ben?"

Ben hummed in response, not bothering to make out Klaus' face in the dark.

"Remember like, eight years ago, when you promised we'd get matching tattoos?"

Just as if he wasn't tired anymore, Ben sat up, shaking his head. "No. No way."

"Oh, yes way," Klaus said, and Ben could hear a grin in his voice. "You promised Benny, this is happening."

"It's absolutely _not _happening!"

It was happening.

Ben tried to convince Klaus he hadn't meant it, that he was only joking, but they both knew he was lying. Ben had said the words _I promis_e, loud and clear, and he knew better than to break a promise.

Saturday night came by faster than Ben could have hoped for, and soon the two siblings found themselves in the tattoo studio. _The Butterfly Effec_t was what it was called. It wasn't the same one Klaus had gotten his other tattoos from.

Ben couldn't tell whether that made him more anxious or not.

For starters, it was smaller, yet neater and brighter than the other one. Ben could see people getting tattooed in the back, some of them yelping every few seconds. He averted his gaze from them, looking at Klaus talking to the lady at the front desk.

Not only was she covered in tattoos, but also piercings. Klaus had told Ben he'd look cool if he got one on his ear, but Ben was still considering it. A tattoo was enough for now.

They had them seated next to each other, the back of their chairs facing opposite directions, so that if Ben turned to his left, he could see Klaus.

"I see this isn't your first tattoo," the artist told Ben as he cleaned his right wrist, glancing at his other arm.

"Oh, right," Ben said. "Yeah, I got that one when I was young. Can't say I like it still though."

"That's the beauty of getting more tattoos," Klaus popped in the conversation. "You get to cover the old ones up!"

_We're not covering anything up though_, Ben thought, rolling his eyes.

Both the tattoo artists laughed — they looked like they could be sisters — and Klaus gestured with his free hand as a thank you.

"So you two are friends?" Klaus' artist asked.

"If only," Klaus joked. "Does getting matching tattoos make us buds?"

"Once this is done, I'm gonna murder you."

"Sure you will, Benny," Klaus said.

Ben sighed and closed his eyes, sitting back. In reality, he was more nervous than opposed to the whole tattoo idea.

There was something about sitting on this chair that sent him back to the Academy, being pinned down by some stranger as they engraved something on his skin against his will. Shaking, crying, hurting, having the horror threaten _to just break free already_-

He opened his eyes when he felt a hand on top of his, and looked to his side to see Klaus give him a reassuring smile.

"You're okay," he mumbled, and Ben nodded, grabbing Klaus' hand as if his whole life depended on it.

He was okay.

Thirty minutes later, the two of them were standing outside the studio, their right wrists covered with plastic wrap to cover their new tattoos.

"I can't believe you didn't cry," Klaus joked as they started walking towards the bus station.

"And _I_ can't believe you got _Bentacles _tattooed on you," Ben argued. "I did not approve of this."

"My body, my rules. Besides," Klaus raised his wrist, showing it to Ben. "It looks cute!"

Ben shook his head, but couldn't help but smile. "Sure, man. Whatever you say."

They walked in silence for the next minute or so, each lost to their own thoughts. He'd never admit it out loud, but Ben couldn't believe he hadn't shed a tear either. Then again, his pain tolerance changed once he became relatively familiar with the horror's powers.

"Next time you should totally get _YES _and _NO _on your palms-"

"No thank you, I'll pass."

"Oh come on!" Klaus whined. "You already draw the words on them with sharpies when we take selfies-"

Ben shoved his left hand in Klaus' face. "Nooooooooooo!"

Klaus pushed it off and scoffed. "Rude."

The rest of the way to the bus time was relatively silent, until Klaus tried to get a stray cat to follow them, that was. Despite his best efforts, the cat seemed uninterested.

Eventually, they reached the station and sat down, Klaus leaning against Ben's shoulder. He looked as if he could fall asleep; not that Ben found that impossible. Klaus had probably not closed an eye the previous night, looking forward to today's plans.

Ben smiled, resting his head on top of Klaus'. He held out his hand, staring at the small cursive letters on his wrist.

_Klaus._

Ben genuinely liked it.

* * *

**Listen. _Listen._**

**I've had this headcanon for ages. This one-shot? Started it months ago and I am FINALLY sharing it with you guys.**

**I hope you enjoyed! (If you have any headcanons that could potentially be turned into fanfics, hmu on tumblr evelinaonline!)**


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